Just when it looked like the KC Royals would snap out of their funk and win a game, they lose to the lowly Houston Astros. They lost 6-5.

The two bench players were the majority of the offense on Monday.

Miguel Tejada

Elliot Johnson gave the Royals a 1-0 lead in the top of the second with an RBI single. Unfortunately, Jeremy Guthrie gave the lead up in the bottom of the inning. He then gave up two more runs in the bottom of the 3rd inning to give the Astros a 3-1 lead.

But then something miraculous happened: Miguel Tejada hit a homerun. With people on base. It was his first homerun since 2011 and the first non-solo homerun for the Royals since May 11th. Tejada hit a three-run shot with one out to give the Royals a 4-3 lead.

Unfortunately, Guthrie gave up his own three-run homerun in the bottom of the fourth to give the Astros the lead right back. Guthrie lost his second game in a row, as he allowed six runs on eight hits and three walks over just five innings.

Of course, the Royals out-hit the Astros, 11-9, but went 3-for-10 with runners in scoring position. They also hit into two double plays. Eric Hosmer and Jeff Francoeur each collected three hits. I know, shocking.

*On another negative note, catcher Salvador Perez slid into the fence in front of the Astros dugout and left later in the game with an injured hip. Hip injuries for a catcher are not good.

Mother Nature was not kind to the big league KC Royals or their farm system last week. There were a total of six games postponed.

The Royals had two more games postponed last week, with them only playing five (4-1). Their four-game winning steak came to an end with a heartbreaking loss in Monday’s makeup game against Chicago. The lack of games pushed them into second place behind Detroit. The Royals head to Baltimore for three games beginning tonight (hopefully the rain holds off because I will be there).

Omaha also had two games postponed last week. The Storm Chasers went 2-3, but are still in first place in the Pacific Coast League’s American Northern Division at 16-12. They finished up their series at home yesterday afternoon (an extra inning loss) and now are out on the road for eight games in Reno and Colorado Springs.

NW Arkansas had back-to-back games postponed last week and went 2-3. The Naturals are still the worst team in the Texas League at 10-18. They finish up their series at home today against Arkansas before heading out on the road for nine games.

Wilmington went 4-3 last week and enjoyed a day off on Monday. The Blue Rocks are just 13-17 and in last place in the Carolina League’s Northern Division. They welcome Potomac to town for three games beginning tonight and could move out of last place with a sweep.

Lexington has now won six in a row (including last night’s win over Lakewood) and went 5-1 last week. The Legends are moving up in the South Atlantic League Southern Division standings at 14-16. They finish up their series in Lakewood today before heading home for seven games.

Now that you are up-to-date on the teams, let’s hand out some awards.

» Continue reading “Royals Weekly Awards”

On Tuesday night, the Dominican Republic became the first team in World Baseball Classic history to go undefeated in the tournament, as they beat Puerto Rico in the WBC finals, 3-0.

The Dominicans took a 2-0 lead in the first inning and never looked back. DR starter Samuel Deduno was great over five innings and the stingy DR bullpen did what they did every night in the tourney, put up zeroes. It culminated with closer Fernando Rodney picking up another save and shooting off yet another arrow.

Miguel Tejada didn’t start at third base, but came on in the 6th inning to replace Hanley Ramirez (who jammed his thumb). He went 0-for-2 at the plate and committed and error in the ninth. He did however catch a pop up and went crashing to the ground. He looked visibly uncomfortable the rest of the night (fingers crossed that he is okay).

Kelvin Herrera could not pitch because he threw over 30 pitches the night before against the Netherlands in the semifinals. That didn’t stop him from celebrating every big moment in the game.

Despite not doing anything offensively for Puerto Rico, second baseman Irving Falu played great on defense. He regularly received praise from the MLB Network analysts. He’ll return to Surprise to compete for a utility spot, but mainly will be fighting for playing time in Triple-A.

Puerto Rico shocked the world by advancing to the World Baseball Classic finals (set for Tuesday night at 8pm ET on MLB Network).

First, they advanced out of Pool C over Venezuela with the Dominican Republic. Puerto Rico again advanced with the DR to the semifinals with a win over the USA.

Then on Sunday night in San Francisco (after playing in Miami on Saturday), they upset two-time WBC champ Japan, 3-1.

Former KC Royals were a huge reason why.

Mario Santiago, who pitched in the Royals farm system until 2011, started and was brilliant until being taken out as a precaution with elbow soreness. He didn’t allow a hit until the fourth. He only allowed two hits over 4.1 scoreless innings.

Mike Aviles drove in the first run in the first inning on a single to centerfield. That scored current Royal minor leaguer Irving Falu, who walked. Falu has been playing GREAT defense at second base.

Aviles picked up another hit in the 7th inning and scored on Alex Rios’ two-run home run that put Puerto Rico up 3-0. Carlos Beltran walked in the first and singled in the sixth.

In the second WBC semifinal, it was current Royals who had big parts to the victory for the Dominican Republic.

Miguel Tejada singled and scored the Dominican Republic’s fourth run in the 5th inning.

In the sixth, Kelvin Herrera entered in relief of starter Edinson Volquez after the Dominican Republic had just taken a 4-1 lead. Herrera allowed a two out double, but struck out Andruw Jones to end the inning. In the seventh, he struck out the first batter he faced on three pitches. With two outs, Herrera walked a batter before striking out the next to end the inning (and end his chance of pitching in the finals).

The DR enacted revenge against the Netherlands in 2013, the team who beat them twice in 2009. Can the DR beat Puerto Rico for the third time? Or can Puerto Rico steal a victory and win the whole thing?

Whoever wins, at least one current Royal will take home the WBC trophy.

The KC Royals were well-represented in the Caribbean Series, that concluded last week with an epic 18-inning final between Mexico and the Dominican Republic. Host Mexico won on a Doug Clark solo homerun.

So how did they get there?

The series began back on February 1st. Mexico beat Puerto Rico 3-0, behind the right arm of Luis Mendoza. He picked up the victory after pitching six shutout innings. He allowed three hits and walked two while striking out three. Mendoza threw 51 of his 85 pitches for strikes. Rey Navarro went 0-for-3 in the game with a walk and a strikeout while playing second base for Puerto Rico.

On the same day, the DR beat Venezuela, 7-2. New Royal Miguel Tejada played shortstop and went 1-for-2 with a walk and an RBI.

The next day, Mexico fell to Venezuela, 4-3 after being down 3-1 heading into the 8th inning. Former Royal minor leaguer Mario Lisson went 2-for-4 with an 8th inning homerun off former big leaguer Oscar Villareal.

The DR improved to 2-0 after a 6-2 victory over Puerto Rico. Tejada went 1-for-3 with a double, a walk, and a run scored while playing shortstop. Navarro played second base and went 1-for-4.

On February 3rd, the DR beat host Mexico, 6-5 in 11 innings. Mexico scored an unearned run in the 9th inning off TB Rays closer Fernando Rodney. Tejada went 2-for-4 while playing shortstop and hit a two-run homerun in the 2nd inning. Venezuela beat Puerto Rico to push them to 0-3.

The next day, Puerto Rico picked up their first victory with a ten-inning win over the Dominican Republic, 6-4. Navarro once again played second base and went 2-for-5 with four RBIs. He tied the game in the 8th inning and hit a two-run homer in the 10th inning for the win. Tejada played third base and went 2-for-4 with a walk. Mexico beat Venezuela, 2-0.

On February 5th, Puerto Rico made the standings interesting by picking up their second win, a 4-1 victory over Venezuela. Navarro went 0-for-4 with a stolen base. The DR beat Mexico, 11-6 to clinch a spot in the finals. Tejada was back at shortstop and went 2-for-5 with a homerun, two RBIs, and two runs scored.

» Continue reading “Caribbean Series Recap”

In my second wrap up of the winter leagues, I will take a look at how the KC Royals representatives did in the Dominican Winter League.

The newest Royal is the one that is still playing winter ball. Infielder Miguel Tejada is in the Caribbean Series championship tonight with Escogido. Supposedly he can play second base because he has played it throughout winter ball, but during the playoffs and Caribbean Series, he has played only shortstop and third base. In 34 regular season games (141 at-bats), Tejada hit .284 with nine doubles, four homeruns, and 19 RBIs.

Licey had the most Royals players on its roster (six).

Jorge Bonifacio played in just three games for Licey. He picked up one at-bat and went 1-for-1. Teammate Francisley Bueno made two starts. He carried a 2.84 ERA. In 6.1 innings, he allowed four hits (one homerun) and two walks while striking out five.

Michael Mariot during his August 20, 2011 start with Wilmington.

Lefty Antonio Cruz pitched in four games (18.00 ERA). Over two innings, he allowed six hits and two walks while throwing two wild pitches. Michael Mariot pitched in four games (one start). He had a 3.86 ERA. In seven innings, he allowed five hits, two walks, and hit two batters, while striking out seven.

Atahualpa Severino pitched in 29 games for Licey and had a 4.09 ERA. Over 22 innings, he allowed 22 hits (one homerun) and 11 walks while striking out 21. Sugar Ray Marimon made two appearances (one start). In five innings, he allowed three hits and an unearned run while striking out two.

On to the rest of the Royals who played on other DWL teams:

Catcher Julio Rodriguez picked up just one at-bat (0-for-1) for the Gigantes. He struck out.

Robinson Yambati made one appearance for Toros. He pitched one inning and walked one.

Santiago Garrido made one appearance for Aguiles at the end of the regular season. Over 0.2 innings, he allowed three walks and struck out two.

The Dominican Winter League representative in the Caribbean Series is Escogido. The Dominicans will be playing in the championship game tonight against Mexico.

The provisional rosters for the World Baseball Classic were released this afternoon and there are quite a few current and former KC Royals on those rosters.

I wrote earlier about lefty reliever Tim Collins being a member of Team USA.

It was rumored that lefty starter Bruce Chen might join Team China. Well, it looks as though the crafty veteran will be anchoring the Chinese staff in the WBC. I am surprised that he is going to be leaving the Royals early in spring training when he is going to be in a tight battle for the final rotation spot. Their pool, Pool A, begins play on March 2nd, but China starts play on the third against host Japan.

Pitchers are only allowed to throw 65 pitches in the first round of pool play, so if Chen can be economical, he could realistically go five or six innings (unless he gets ripped).

Joining Chen in Pool A is Royals minor leaguer Paulo Orlando. The outfielder was a member of the surprise Brazilian team that upset Panama in the WBC Qualifier. He will be with Brazil in their first WBC when they begin play on March 2nd against host Japan. As of right now, Brazil’s lone big leaguer, catcher Yan Gomes, who played in the qualifier, is not on the roster (but they only have one catcher listed on their roster).

The Netherlands shocked the world in 2009 and look to do the same in 2013 in Pool B with some players with a little more name recognition (like Jair Jurrjens, Andruw Jones, Andrelton Simmons, and Jurickson Profar). Pitcher JC Sulbaran, who the Royals received from Cincinnati for Jonathan Broxton, is a member of the Netherlands pitching staff.

I am most looking forward to seeing some of the veteran Netherlands players, like Robbie Cordemans and Yurendell de Caster, along with some of the prospect guys like Jonathan Schoop, Xander Bogaerts, and Spencer Kieboom.

The Netherlands begin pool play on March 2nd against Korea in Taiwan.

Former Royal Justin Huber is yet again a member of the Australian team that is looking to use some of that explosive offensive (over .300 average in 2009) to make it out of the pool.

Huber will be joined with other veterans Luke Hughes, Peter Moylan, and Brad Harman. They also have some young prospects like Stefan Welch, James Beresford, and Clayton Tanner.

» Continue reading “WBC Rosters Full of Royals”

The KC Royals snuck in the signing of veteran infielder Miguel Tejada to a supposed minor league deal on the final night of 2012. Many just shrugged it off as a veteran signing to give some depth during spring training and possibly during the season if there were an injury at the big league level.

Then came the news that the signing was actually a big league deal of $1.1 million (with $400,000 in incentives) once the Royals cleared room for him on the full 40-man roster. Tejada and his agent announced that the Royals guaranteed him a roster spot for next season.

So the soon-to-be 39 year old has-been is going to take the spot of a younger player with much more upside (and most likely skills)? And he’s considering himself a utility fielder and second baseman. When did he play second base (besides right now in winter ball)?

I wanted the Royals to give Irving Falu a chance as the utility fielder, since he has done nothing but hit at the minor league level and he hit in his brief Major League debut. All he needs is a chance and the Royals seem to not want to give him, or any of their younger players a chance (at least one’s that are not considered “prospects”).

Once it all sunk in, the backlash began. You can read the following articles to read all of the sarcasm:

Royals Sign Miguel Tejada, Furthering Argument That All Is Good In Kansas City Front Office Royals Review

Miguel Tejada Signs Minor League Contract Kings of Kauffman

Royals reportedly guarantee Miguel Tejada big-league job Bucs Dugout

Or you could just search Miguel Tejada on Twitter and find lots:

But it wasn’t all backlash or sarcasm. Apparently MLB.com writer Richard Justice thinks the signing will be a good one.

*Besides the signing of Tejada and veteran outfielder Endy Chavez on New Year’s Eve, the Royals also signed Chad Tracy to a minor league deal. This Chad Tracy is the son of former Colorado manager Jim Tracy. Last season, he hit 12 homeruns in 133 games for Triple-A Colorado Springs.

So I was wrong about the KC Royals making their final move of 2012 with the signing of Endy Chavez. Instead, it came with the signing of veteran infielder Miguel Tejada.

Apparently the deal is a Major League one, when a 40 man roster spot opens. According to Tejada and his agent, the deal is worth $1.1 million with $400,000 in incentives. They are also saying that the Royals guaranteed him a spot as a utility fielder and second baseman.

WHAT!?

This deal leaves me scratching my head and honestly makes me angry.

Guaranteeing a 38 year old has-been a spot on the roster?

He hasn’t been relevant in years.

Last year, Baltimore signed him to a minor league deal and he played in just 36 games in Triple-A before requesting his release. That deal was more of a charity deal because of all his years of service in the past for the Orioles.

This signing will NOT help the Royals get to the postseason. This is not the way I wanted to see 2012 end for them.